想知道裝點圣誕樹的飾品是怎么生產出來的嗎？請跟我們參觀德國小鎮Lauscha的玻璃飾品工藝廠。

Glass decorations for Christmas in German town

No Christmas tree would be complete without a colorful set of baubles. In one small German town, the tannenbaums are be-decked with a local speciality, mouth-blown glass figures using traditional molds from 80 years ago.

Nestled deep within the southern part of the Thuringian Forest is the worldwide famous glass-blowing town of Lauscha.

The tradition of glass blowing in Lauscha dates back approximately 400 years, when the town was founded. Many items for everyday life, such as ink wells and small bottles were produced here.

As demand for these products faded in the nineteenth century, new products such as glass-blown lamps were developed. Around 150 years ago the glass-blowers started to create glass pearls made into pearl chains and small ornaments, such as fruit cones, for their Christmas trees.

Since then, the number of molds and ornaments has been growing each year.

Twenty years ago, there were about 500 people who were engaged in the trade. They worked mostly in their homes and created Christmas baubles and figures.

Today only 40 are left in the town.

With skill and a lot of experience, a Christmas figure like an angel can be created within 20 to 30 seconds.

Then a silver alloy is applied inside the figure by pouring water with silver and ammoniac into the figure.

This mixture is then heated up and shaken so that the silver color appears. Afterwards the figure is painted.

The products are mostly distributed to traders in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the United States.

In Lauscha's major store "Farbglashuette", all the products produced in the region can be found.

Prices range from 5 to 7 Euros to for a mouth blown bird. A larger Santa Claus will run about 25 Euros.